Heathrow

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#47
Midlands lass said:
Airport goods are either duty free ( no excise duty) or tax free (no VAT).

Now interestingly (or not!) the last time I flew from T5, the mulberry sales assistant said they were duty not tax free and the discount was 15% ish rather than the VAT rate of 17.5. This fits with MG's mitzy figures. 430 is 15% off 495.

He said in Jan, the duty would go up and the discount would be 17-18% in line with the VAT rise to 20.

I checked this out at the time and the world duty free shops sell bags etc at tax free not duty free. Duty free is for ciggies and booze.

Not sure if mulberry are wrong in not deducting the full amount of VAT.

My head hurts now. Hope that makes sense!!
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VAT is payable on chargeable goods bought in the UK, albeit that people who live outside the EU can apply for a refund of this amount. Therefore Mulberry at Heathrow are correct to include VAT in their prices.

In respect of 'duty free' - there are 2 different types of duty which might apply - excise duties and customs duties.

- Excise duties relate to cigarettes and alcohol, so I would say this is strictly 'duty free'.
- I think 'tax free' generally relates to Customs duty and Mulberry doesn't charge this on purchases at the airport, which is why airport prices are lower than in the shops.

The terminology seems to be used interchangeably when it's not exactly the same thing!
 
#48
Tarababe said:
I don't think so Indiana as we are staying in Cork and visiting our company factory there so as far as I know the rest of the time will be in the hotel. My DH tends to like very peaty malts, so any tips would be most welcome.:graucho:
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Tara, I asked my distiller friend for some advice, and this is what she said:

"Peaty malt is a Scottish speciality. He needs to get the Irish Pure Malt - a bottle of Redbreast - pure pot still."

Straight from the horse's mouth ;)
 
#50
mulberryfloss said:
I had a very frustrating experience at Heathrow earlier this year - I can't remember which terminal, (definitely not 5 though), but we were due to take off at 6:45am and although I knew I'd be cutting it fine, the Mulberry shop was due to open at 6am so I figured I'd have a good 10 mins before we had to head off to the departure gate. Well 6am came and went, the lights were all on, the staff were in place, but they didn't open the store - the metal grill thing was raised only by about a quarter. I caught the eye of one of the staff members and asked if they were open, to be told "yes, in a few minutes!" Well a few minutes later they STILL weren't open to customers and I had to go and get my flight.:cry:

To say I was furious was a bit of an understatement.....:censor:
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Wordsworth said:
VAT is payable on chargeable goods bought in the UK, albeit that people who live outside the EU can apply for a refund of this amount. Therefore Mulberry at Heathrow are correct to include VAT in their prices.

In respect of 'duty free' - there are 2 different types of duty which might apply - excise duties and customs duties.

- Excise duties relate to cigarettes and alcohol, so I would say this is strictly 'duty free'.
- I think 'tax free' generally relates to Customs duty and Mulberry doesn't charge this on purchases at the airport, which is why airport prices are lower than in the shops.

The terminology seems to be used interchangeably when it's not exactly the same thing!
Click to expand...

Indiana said:
Tara, I asked my distiller friend for some advice, and this is what she said:

"Peaty malt is a Scottish speciality. He needs to get the Irish Pure Malt - a bottle of Redbreast - pure pot still."

Straight from the horse's mouth ;)
Click to expand...



Well I was in T1 flying to Ireland and saw a Mulberry shop...:nuts: Was a bit surprised as I thought it was in T5 but unless there are two.:shrugs:

I had a quick look in and there was a slight difference in price but not much. Anyway I have no more funds so couldn't buy anything anyway.

Indiana, we ended up at the Jameson Factory and did the usual visitors tour....Stupidly, I forgot to note the name of the Whiskey your friend advised but ended up buying one from the factory that isn't sold anywhere else, so DH was over the moon with it. Hasn't tried it yet though I am sure he will like it. It is alcohol after all.:p
 
#51
Well I was in T1 flying to Ireland and saw a Mulberry shop... Was a bit surprised as I thought it was in T5 but unless there are two

There is a Mulberry shop in terminals 1, 3 , 4 and 5 at Heathrow
 
#53
Hi all,

i want the Alexa and one of my friends will fly to UK from USA this March. I want to know the price to buy it in the airport after refund. If it is really cheaper than buying it online, I will ask him to help me buy one.

Many thanks!!!
 
#54
Hi all,

i want to Alexa and one of my friends will fly to UK from USA this March. I want to know the price to buy it in the airport after refund. If it is really cheaper than buying it online, I will ask him to help me buy one.

Many thanks!!!
 
#56
Wordsworth said:
VAT is payable on chargeable goods bought in the UK, albeit that people who live outside the EU can apply for a refund of this amount. Therefore Mulberry at Heathrow are correct to include VAT in their prices.

In respect of 'duty free' - there are 2 different types of duty which might apply - excise duties and customs duties.

- Excise duties relate to cigarettes and alcohol, so I would say this is strictly 'duty free'.
- I think 'tax free' generally relates to Customs duty and Mulberry doesn't charge this on purchases at the airport, which is why airport prices are lower than in the shops.

The terminology seems to be used interchangeably when it's not exactly the same thing!
Click to expand...

Does that mean that anyone living outside of the UK could potentially save a lot by buying at Heathrow (due to the already lower price) plus apply to get a VAT refund? Hope someone could chime in! I am going to London this July and would live to get a lovely smoothy Alexa if I could find one.
 
#57
sma11cat said:
Does that mean that anyone living outside of the UK could potentially save a lot by buying at Heathrow (due to the already lower price) plus apply to get a VAT refund? Hope someone could chime in! I am going to London this July and would live to get a lovely smoothy Alexa if I could find one.
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Sma11cat, if you buy at the airport, the VAT would not have been added, so you can't apply for a VAT refund. So, the price in Heathrow would be the price you pay. Hope that helps.
 
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